Toy vehicles, including remote controlled or radio controlled toy cars and trucks, are generally well known in the art. Such toy vehicles typically include a battery operated motor, a steering mechanism, and a wireless controller that enables the vehicle to be operated untethered. Most children find the motor driven, remote controlled aspect of such as toys very appealing because the features satisfy a child's desire for realism. However, because of the wide variety of such toy vehicles on the market, such toy vehicles must have increasingly complex and realistic features in order capture and stimulate a child's imagination.
The toy vehicle according to the present invention incorporates an oscillating body adapted to simulate the continuous rocking and rolling experienced by the body of an actual vehicle being driven over rough terrain. The incorporation of this and other complex and realistic features greatly enhances the play value of the toy.
According to one aspect of the invention, a toy vehicle includes a chassis having a plurality of wheels, a motor drive assembly mounted to the chassis and being operatively connected to at least one of the wheels, a body mounted to the chassis by a hinge, and an actuating cam operatively connected to the motor drive assembly and engaging the body. The hinge permits the body to move about the hinge, and the actuating cam thus imparts pivotal movement to the body about the hinge in response to operation of the motor drive assembly.
The actuating cam may include a plurality of lobes, such as three. Preferably, the actuating cam may include a pair of cam members mounted to a common camshaft, with each of the cam members including one or more cam lobes. The lobes of each cam member may be staggered about the camshaft relative to the lobes of the other cam member. Each of the cam member lobes are disposed to abut an adjacent side portion of the body, thereby alternately pivoting the body about the hinge in opposite directions as the cam shaft repeatedly rotates. The actuating cam may be connected to the motor drive assembly so as to pivot the body about the hinge at a rate proportional to a speed of the vehicle.
The hinge includes a front pivot mounted adjacent a front end of the chassis and a rear pivot mounted adjacent a rear end of the chassis. A cam follower may be mounted to the body in a position to engage the actuating cam, such as adjacent the rear of the vehicle.
The toy vehicle will preferably include a remote controller, such as an RC controller, to enable the vehicle to be remotely operated by the user. The RC controller is preferably shiftable between a forward mode and a reverse mode.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a toy vehicle comprises a chassis having a plurality of wheels, a motor carried by the chassis, a gear train operatively connecting the motor to at least one of the wheels, a body mounted to the chassis by a pivot, and an actuator operatively connected to the gear train. The actuator engages the body, such that the actuator moves the body about the pivot in response to operation of the motor.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a toy vehicle having an oscillating body includes a chassis having a plurality of wheels, a drive motor operatively connected to at least one of the wheels for propelling the vehicle along a path, and a body mounted to the chassis by a pivot assembly. An actuator operatively connects the drive motor and the body. The actuator is adapted to oscillate the body about the hinge assembly in response to operation of the drive motor.
The aforementioned features and advantages, in addition to other features and advantages, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description.